Prior Art FIG. 1 illustrates a method 100 of manufacturing a conventional tape head for a linear tape drive. As shown, in operation 102, a plurality of “quads” is cut from a wafer, which may be further cut into “mini-quads.” Thereafter, a plurality of closures is bonded to the mini-quads. See operation 104. Next, in operation 106, the closures are ground and an extender bond operation is performed. At this point, in operation 108, a tape bearing surface (TBS) is lapped, after which the mini-quad is sliced to provide a plurality of “rows” each with a planar TBS.
With continuing reference to FIG. 1, a back portion of each row is lapped and inspected. See operation 110. The rows are then subjected to a magnetic test in operation 112, followed by additional inspections and measurements in operation 114. It is at this time that the rows are trimmed to afford “chiplets” and cleaned in operation 116.
The “chiplets” are bonded to U-beams in operation 118 and again inspected and measured in operation 120. Grinding is then carried out in operation 122 to notch a portion of each head. Such grinding is carried out to reduce the area on which a tape passes during use. By doing so, the tape is guided over the head in an optimal manner.
Finally, in operations 124–128, a magnetoresistive profile of each head is enhanced and again inspected and measured, after which a final cleaning operation is performed. More information regarding a number of the foregoing operations will be set forth with reference to the following figures.
Prior art FIG. 2 illustrates a mini-quad 200 of heads 202 that have been cut from a wafer, in accordance with operation 102 of FIG. 1. As shown, the mini-quad 200 includes two columns of multiple rows of heads 202. During the fabrication of the mini-quad 200, an array of heads 202 including transducers and auxiliary circuits are fabricated on a common substrate in a deposition of metallic and non-metallic layers. The auxiliary circuits are sometimes referred to as electrical lap guides (ELGs). Patterning of the array of transducers and ELGs is accomplished using photolithography in combination with etching and lift-off processes.
Prior art FIG. 3 illustrates a mini-quad 300 including a plurality of strips of closures 302 attached thereto, in accordance with operations 104 and 106 of FIG. 1. Such closures 302 define a plurality of slots 304 in which contacts 306 associated with the ELGs reside. Such closures 302 have recently become a common part of wafer processing in view of the benefits they afford in resultant heads. More information on the manufacture and use of closures 302 and the related benefits may be found with reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,883,770 and 5,905,613 which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Prior art FIG. 4 illustrates a head 400 after the lapping and tests of operations 108–114, the trimming of operation 116 and the attachment of the U-beam of operation 118 of FIG. 1. To conserve wafer utilization, the head 400 is extremely thin in shape and form. In order to increase the stability of the head 400 for the suitable use thereof, the head 400 is attached to a beam 404 of some sort formed of a rigid material. Such beams 404 are often referred to as a “U-beams.” Again, the closure 402 is shown in FIG. 4.
Prior art FIG. 5 illustrates a head 500 after the grind of operation 122 of FIG. 1. Such grind renders a notch 502 which allows a proper wrap angle of a tape as it moves over an TBS 504 of the head 500 during use.
Prior art FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the head 500, taken along line 6—6 of FIG. 5. As shown, the grind can result in chipping and irregular height 600 along an outside edge of the TBS 504. Such defects 600 have exhibited rough features several hundred Angstroms in height and several microns in depth. In the past, such defects 600 have been controlled by using slow cutting and resin-bonded wheels. Unfortunately, such techniques are slow and the resultant edge quality is critically dependent on grind wheel condition.
In use, defects 600 of such magnitude result in problems in the manner in which the tape moves over the TBS 504. For example, a fly height (i.e. the distance between the tape and the TBS) may not be effectively controlled and maintained. There is thus a need to provide a TBS with edges that are smooth and free from defects resulting from the grind procedure.